[iht] Thailand changes roles to become aid donor

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/13/news/baht.php
Thailand changes roles to become aid donor
By Nick ***-Bruce International Herald Tribune

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2005


BANGKOK When a team of Thai forensic experts led by the country's top
forensic pathologist arrived in the United States this week to assist in
the recovery from Hurricane Katrina, they were a sign of a developing
country that is emerging as a significant aid donor.

While its offer of aid to the world's richest country was a first for
Thailand, a joint report released Tuesday by the United Nations and the
Thai government highlighted the kingdom's commitment to assisting
low-income Asian neighbors and its ambitions to broaden the reach of its
assistance programs.

The Thai-UN report, "Global Partnership for Development," aims to reaffirm
Thailand's "strong commitment to the global campaign to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals" a Thai government statement said, referring
to goals that will be discussed as world leaders assemble in New York for a
UN meeting on ways to invigorate the fight against poverty.

The report shows that Thailand, a middle-income country that until a decade
ago remained a major recipient of development assistance, now contributes
as much to international assistance as a proportion of its income as do the
world's biggest economies. Moreover, its assistance comes not only in aid,
but also in terms of more open trade and markets, the report shows.

"It surprised us, too, but when we added up all the overseas development
assistance Thailand is providing we found it's on the heels of the U.S. as
a percentage of national income," said Hakan Bjorkman, the deputy head of
the United Nations Development Program in Thailand, who helped prepare the
report. "The story here is that it shows what the countries of the south
can do to help each other."

Responses to natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami last
Dec. 26 have drawn attention to the extent to which Asian countries are
providing humanitarian aid. Seven Asian countries have contributed to the
Katrina relief efforts, ranging from China and India, which have each
pledged $5 million or more, to impoverished Bangladesh, which offered $1
million.

Other Asian countries provide international aid. South Korea's
International Cooperation Agency, for instance, gives more than $250
million a year in development assistance. Yet Thailand has emerged as among
the region's most significant providers of aid relative to the size of its
economy and serves as "a model for middle-income countries," Bjorkman said.

Thailand's official development assistance reached at least $167 million in
the 2003 fiscal year, about 0.13 percent of Thailand's gross national
income. That is close to the levels of aid in terms of gross domestic
income provided by the United States, 0.15 percent, and Japan, 0.2 percent.

While developed countries channel one-third of their assistance to
least-developed countries, almost all of Thailand's assistance goes to its
least-developed neighbors like Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and the Maldives.
The aid is used to develop basic infrastructure such as roads, bridges and
power stations.

Thailand also contributes to the economic development of its neighbors by
opening markets to their exports, the report said. Thai tariffs on trade
with these least-developed countries are the lowest among Asia's developing
countries, and its imports from least-developed countries, at 3.1 percent
of its total imports, make up a higher proportion of Thailand's imports
than those of any developed or middle-income country, the report said.
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